Measures of Central Tendency

Mean, Median and Mode

for Ungrouped and Grouped Data

Basic Statistics
Measures of Central Tendency
Measures of central tendency are numerical
descriptive measures which indicate or
locate the center of a distribution or data set.

In layman’s term, a measure

of central tendency is an AVERAGE.
It is a single number of value which
can be considered typical in a set of
data as a whole.
For example, in a class of 40
students, the average height would
be the typical height of the
members of this class as a whole.
MEAN
The MEAN of a set of values or measurements is
the sum of all the measurements divided by the number of
measurements in the set.

Among the three measures of central tendency, the

mean is the most popular and widely used. It is sometimes
called the arithmetic mean.
If we compute the mean of the population, we call it
the parametric or population mean, denoted by μ
(read “mu”).
If we get the mean of the sample, we call it the
sample mean and it is denoted by (read “x bar”).
Mean for Ungrouped Data
For ungrouped or raw data, the mean has the following
formula.

where = mean
= sum of the measurements or values
n = number of measurements

Example 1:
Ms. Sulit collects the data on the ages of Mathematics teachers in
Santa Rosa School, and her study yields the following:
38 35 28 36 35 33 40
Solution:

= 35
Based on the computed mean, 35 is the average age of
Mathematics teachers in SRS.
Your turn!

Mang John is a meat vendor. The following are his sales for
the past six days. Compute his daily mean sales.
Tuesday P 5 800
Wednesday 8 600
Thursday 6 500
Friday 4 300
Saturday 12 500
Sunday 13 400

Solution:

= 8,516.67

The average daily sales of Mang John is P8,516.67.

Weighted Mean

Weighted mean is the mean of a set of values wherein

each value or measurement has a different weight or
degree of importance. The following is its formula:

where = mean

x = measurement or value

w = number of measurements
Example
Below are Amaya’s subjects and the corresponding number
of units and grades she got for the previous grading
period. Compute her grade point average.

Subject Units Grade

Filipino .9 86
English 1.5 85
Mathematics 1.5 88
Science 1.8 87
Social Studies .9 86
TLE 1.2 83
MAPEH 1.2 87
Solution:

= 86.1

Amaya’s average grade is 86.1

Your turn!
James obtained the following grades in his five subjects for
the second grading period. Compute his grade point average.

Subject Units Grade

Math 1.5 90
English 1.5 86
Science 1.8 88
Filipino 0.9 87
MAKABAYAN 1.5 87

Solution:

= 87.67

James general average is 87.67

Properties of Mean
1. Mean can be calculated for any set of
numerical data, so it always exists.
2. A set of numerical data has one and only one
mean.
3. Mean is the most reliable measure of central
tendency since it takes into account every item
in the set of data.
4. It is greatly affected by extreme or deviant
values (outliers)
5. It is used only if the data are interval or ratio.
MEDIAN

The MEDIAN, denoted Md, is the middle value

of the sample when the data are ranked in order according
to size.

16 17 18 19 20 21 22

Median

16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23

Median
Your turn!
Compute the median and interpret the result.
1. In a survey of small businesses in Tondo, 10 bakeries
report the following numbers of employees:
15, 14, 12, 19, 13, 14 15, 18, 13, 19. Ans. 14.5

2. The random savings of 2nd year high school students

reveal the following current balances in their bank
accounts:
Students A B C D E F G H
Current Balances P340 350 450 500 360 760 800 740
Ans. 475
3. The following are the lifetimes of 9 lightbulbs in
thousands of hours.
Lightbulb A B C D E F G H I
Lifetime 1.1 1.1 1.2 1.1 1.4 .9 .2 1.2 1.7
Ans. 1.1
Properties of Median

1. Median is the score or class in the distribution

wherein 50% of the score fall below it and
another 50% lie.
2. Median is not affected by extreme or deviant
values.
3. Median is appropriate to use when there are
extreme or deviant values.
4. Median is used when the data are ordinal.
5. Median exists in both quantitative or qualitative
data.
MODE
The MODE, denoted Mo, is the value which
occurs most frequently in a set of measurements or values.
In other words, it is the most popular value in a given set.

Examples:
Find the Mode. Ans. No Mode
1. The ages of five students are: 17, 18, 23, 20, and 19
2. The following are the descriptive evaluations of 5 Ans. VS
teachers: VS, S, VS, VS, O
3. The grades of five students are : 4.0, 3.5, 4.0, 3.5, and
1.0 Ans. 3.5 and 4.0
4. The weights of five boys in pounds are: 117, 218, 233,
120, and 117
Ans. 117
Properties

1. It is used when you want to find the value

which occurs most often.
2. It is a quick approximation of the average.
3. It is an inspection average.
4. It is the most unreliable among the three
measures of central tendency because its
value is undefined in some observations.
Your turn!

Find the mode and interpret it.

1. The following table shows the frequency of errors

committed by 10 typists per minute. Ans. 3, 7, and 8
Typists A B C D E F G H I J
No. of errors per min. 5 3 3 7 2 8 8 4 7 10

2. A random sample of 8 mango trees reveals the

following number of fruits they yield Ans. 82
Mango Tree A B C D E F G H
No. of fruits 80 70 80 90 82 82 90 82

3. The following are the scores of 9 students in a

Mathematics quiz.: 12, 15, 12, 8, 7, 15, 19, 24, 13
Ans. 12 and 15
 MEAN,
MEDIAN
and MODE
for
GROUPED
DATA
 Test & Measurements Prelim
Examination

RAW DATA (Ungrouped Data)

Frequency Distribution Table

(Grouped Data)
MEAN, MEDIAN and MODE for
GROUPED DATA
MEAN

where, the mean,

f the frequency,
x the class midpoint, and
n the number of cases.
 σ 𝑓𝑥
Find the mean of the Grouped 𝑥ҧ =
𝑛
Data below:
𝑥 𝑓

𝑛 = 50
σ 𝑓𝑥 4,280
𝑥ҧ = = 𝑥ҧ = 85.6 ෍ 𝑓𝑥 = 4,280
𝑛 50
 YOUR TURN: σ 𝑓𝑥
𝑥ҧ =
Find the mean of the Grouped 𝑛
Data below:
𝑥 𝑓

𝑛 = 50
σ 𝑓𝑥 3,641
𝑥ҧ = = 𝑥ҧ = 72.82 ෍ 𝑓𝑥 = 3,641
𝑛 50
MEAN, MEDIAN and MODE for
GROUPED DATA
MEDIAN

Md

where, Lm the lower boundary of the median class,

n the number of cases,
cfb the cumulative frequency before the
median class,
fm the frequency of the median class, and
i the class size.
 𝑛
− 𝑐𝑓𝑏
2
Find the median of the 𝑀𝑑 = 𝐿𝑚 +
𝑓𝑚
𝑖
Grouped Data below:

𝑐𝑓𝑏 = 21
𝑓𝑚 = 11

𝑖=5 𝐿𝑚 = 84.5 𝑛 = 50
𝑛
= 25 Median Class
25 − 21 2
𝑀𝑑 = 84.5 + 5
11 𝑀𝑑 = 86.32
 𝑛
YOUR TURN: 𝑀𝑑 = 𝐿𝑚 + 2 − 𝑐𝑓𝑏
𝑖
Find the median of the 𝑓𝑚
Grouped Data below:

𝑐𝑓𝑏 = 22
𝑓𝑚 = 11

𝑖=6 𝐿𝑚 = 71.5 𝑛 = 50
𝑛
= 25 Median Class
25 − 22 2
𝑀𝑑 = 71.5 + 6
11 𝑀𝑑 = 73.14
MEAN, MEDIAN and MODE for
GROUPED DATA
MODE
𝑓𝑚𝑜
𝑀𝑜 = 𝐿𝑚𝑜 + 𝑖
𝑓𝑚𝑜 − 𝑓𝑚𝑜𝑏 + 𝑓𝑚𝑜 − 𝑓𝑚𝑜𝑎
where, Lmo the lower boundary of the modal class,
fmo the frequency of the modal class,
the frequency of the class interval
before the modal class,
the frequency of the class interval
after the modal class, and
i the class size.
 𝑓𝑚𝑜
𝑀𝑜 = 𝐿𝑚𝑜 + 𝑖
𝑓𝑚𝑜 − 𝑓𝑚𝑜𝑏 + 𝑓𝑚𝑜 − 𝑓𝑚𝑜𝑎
Find the mode of the
Grouped Data below:

Modal Class
𝑓𝑚𝑜 = 11
𝑓𝑚𝑜𝑏 = 5
𝑓𝑚𝑜𝑎 = 9
𝑖=5 𝐿𝑚𝑜 = 84.5

11
𝑀𝑜 = 84.5 + 5 𝑀𝑜 = 91.38
11 − 5 + 11 − 9
 YOUR TURN: 𝑓𝑚𝑜
𝑀𝑜 = 𝐿𝑚𝑜 + 𝑖
𝑓𝑚𝑜 − 𝑓𝑚𝑜𝑏 + 𝑓𝑚𝑜 − 𝑓𝑚𝑜𝑎
Find the mode of the
Grouped Data below:

Modal Class
𝑓𝑚𝑜 = 11
𝑓𝑚𝑜𝑏 = 4
𝑓𝑚𝑜𝑎 = 11
𝑖=6 𝐿𝑚𝑜 = 65.5

11
𝑀𝑜 = 65.5 + 6 𝑀𝑜 = 74.93
11 − 4 + 11 − 11
 YOUR TURN: 𝑓𝑚𝑜
𝑀𝑜 = 𝐿𝑚𝑜 + 𝑖
𝑓𝑚𝑜 − 𝑓𝑚𝑜𝑏 + 𝑓𝑚𝑜 − 𝑓𝑚𝑜𝑎
Find the mode of the
Grouped Data below:

Modal Class
𝑓𝑚𝑜 = 11
𝑓𝑚𝑜𝑏 = 11
𝑓𝑚𝑜𝑎 = 7
𝑖=6 𝐿𝑚𝑜 = 71.5

11
𝑀𝑜 = 71.5 + 6 𝑀𝑜 = 88
11 − 11 + 11 − 7